I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mouth guard to minimize teeth grinding during sleep and reduce TMJ and other jaw-related problems.
II. Description of Material Art
Many persons have the tendency of grinding their teeth while sleeping. Such grinding of the teeth is involuntary and disadvantageously results in undesirable wear of the teeth, TMJ and other jaw-related problems.
In order to minimize the damage created by grinding of the teeth, there have been a number of previously known mouth guards which are positioned within the mouth between the teeth on the upper and lower jaws. These previously known mouth guards separate the upper and lower jaws from each other during sleep and thus prevent the teeth from grinding against each other involuntarily during sleep.
The previously known mouth guards, however, have not proven entirely satisfactory in operation. Although the previously known mouth guards effectively eliminate teeth grinding by separating the upper and lower teeth during sleep, they do not eliminate or even significantly reduce involuntary occlusion of the teeth during sleep. Consequently, while these previously known mouth guards effectively prevent erosion of the teeth caused by grinding during sleep, such guards provide little, if any, relief from temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ) and other jaw-related problems associated with teeth grinding.